


Kyubey's Wish

by Howlin_the_Werewolf



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:03:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5509523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howlin_the_Werewolf/pseuds/Howlin_the_Werewolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rebellion, Homura made a big mistake. One that might just result in her getting everything she ever wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kyubey's Wish

Homura had driven the Incubator insane. It was a good plan, channeling all the suffering and depression, and pain through the creature who had been the cause of all this. There was a sense of justice to it. There was just one flaw. Homura had drive the Incubator insane.

Among the Incubators, emotions are a mental disorder. Now Kyubey could feel. His emotions weren't human. He entertained no thoughts of vengeance or malice towards Homura. What he felt was the deepest gratitude toward her.

Because even insane, Kyubey retained his goals. He wanted to stave off the heat death of the universe, and the best way to accomplish that was still bringing back the old witch system. And now that Kyubey had emotions, those emotions could be used to grant a wish.

But Homura had given him even more than the means to restore the old system. She had pointed out a critical flaw in the plan. The emergence of an entity like Madoka Kaname was an extremely unlikely event, but given infinite time (which preventing the heat death of the universe implied) it was a certainty. The system needed to be adjusted to ensure that after restoring the old system, something like this couldn't happen again. Next time, there might not be someone like Homura Akemi to reveal what had happened and give the Incubators an opening to fix it.

Any casual observer would recognize that the Incubators follow rules in their interactions with other species. They never directly lie. They aren't allowed to suggest wishes. Some of these rules reflected the Incubators' own ethical system. Most were the result of magical girls wishing for a fairer system piece by piece over the millennia. Due to the nature of those wishes, Kyubey couldn't wish any of those behavioral constraints away, no matter how much he might want to, but he could wish a new one into existence.

"I wish that in all timelines, past, present, and future, the Incubators never contract with a magical girl who's karmic destiny is sufficient to destroy the universe."

As his soul gem emerged from his body, Kyubey knew that he would have to destroy it as soon as possible to prevent the emergence of a witch based on that wish. It was a price he was willing to pay. Sacrificing one individual for the greater good of the universe was only logical. He was afraid, but also proud. He would demonstrate that he really meant it all those times he told magical girls the same. That he was willing to sacrifice no less now that it was possible for him to do so.

Another Incubator would be assigned to earth. In all likelihood, no one would know the difference. From a human prospective, the differences between individual Incubators were likely to be imperceptible. The other Incubators wouldn't be grateful for what he did. They weren't capable of gratitude like he was. But they would see the logic in it if they ever figured out what happened. That was comfort enough.

In the new universe, born from Kyubey's wish, Homura had just begun another cycle of her seemingly endless time loop in an effort to save Madoka. She'd gotten herself discharged from the hospital, repaired and optimized her body for the difficult weeks ahead of her. Now the first critical event that needed to change. Destroying the body of the Incubator who would have the first opportunity to contract with Madoka.

Something was wrong. The Incubator was nowhere to be seen. It was always here. Sometimes her actions caused an unexpected butterfly effect, but never this early.

"Come out Incubator!" she demanded.

"I don't believe we've met," said the Incubator, who had come from entirely the wrong direction. "But you have a soul gem. Very interesting."

"I won't allow you to make a contract with Madoka Kaname," said Homura, recovering her stride at the sight of the hated creature. She charged a bolt of purple energy to destroy it, when it did something she could have never imagined.

It said, "Madoka Kaname isn't a magical girl candidate."

Homura expected deception. The Incubators never lied directly, but they told half truths, left out details, and it was only ever to their own benefit. But so early in the time loop, they shouldn't have had time to figure out what she was up to or formulate a new strategy. Homura lowered her hand.

"What do you mean she isn't a magical girl candidate?" Homura asked warily.

Back at Homura's apartment, she interrogated the Incubator, prying details from it with piercing questions. She still wasn't satisfied. She didn't trust the thing, but she would have to see how this angle played out. It would show its true colors in time. They always did.

"I would think you would be happy," said the Incubator. "Your wish came true, didn't it?"

"My wish?" she asked, every muscle in her body tensed. She must've given something away during the interrogation. These things were inhumanly smart. You couldn't underestimate them even for a second, and that interrogation had been the longest conversation she'd had with it for several time loops for precisely that reason.

"You wished to go back in time to prevent Madoka Kaname from contracting, isn't that right? You kept coming back in time, and each time you ratcheted up her karmic destiny, causing the potential of all those aborted timelines to converge on her. Now, her karmic destiny is beyond the upper limit for us to make a contract with her."

Homura couldn't trust this creature, but she dared to hope. If what it said was true, everything she'd been through, all the times she'd had to see Madoka die, had meant something, had been worth it. She'd need to keep a close eye to make sure this wasn't some kind of trick, but if it wasn't, this might be the last time she had to relive this month.

"I suppose now all you have to worry about is Walpurgisnacht," said the Incubator.

Homura actually smiled. "One magical girl can't beat it, but I know a few magical girls who'll be willing to team up with me."


End file.
